


We Were Tenno

by JaxxCapta



Series: Souls of Puppets [2]
Category: Warframe
Genre: (Some day when Stalker stops being so edgy), AU In Regards To Umbral/Feral Warframes, Ableism, Body Horror, Character Death, Diary/Journal, Epistolary, Inau's Home For Veteran Warframes, Look guys the Orokin were awful, Nonbinary Character, Past Character Death, Recovery, Redemption, Self-Hatred, Sibling Bonding, Slow Burn, Social Issues, Some operators are mean to their warframes, Trauma, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2019-11-03 20:38:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 26
Words: 15,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17884829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaxxCapta/pseuds/JaxxCapta
Summary: The past never stays that way.Some may seek to overlook it, and move beyond its reach. For others, it grabs them, pulls them down and traps them. The strength to break away is difficult to muster. You may find allies who lift you up, you may find enemies who push you down with every ounce of pain and anger in them.And it can be oh so tempting to sink in and let its weight suffocate you.Sequel to We Are Tenno. Now with a new narrator and like, 50% more subplots!





	1. Suspect Gift

Journal,

Mag purchased this for me. She justified it by saying if I am to read hers, I should have my own to preoccupy myself with. I suspect she plans to read this as retaliation.

I did not read it to gain tactical knowledge, psychological or otherwise.

I have not read a hard-copy book before and the experience intrigued me.

It was not ideal. Her handwriting is poor.

But I know where her records left off now and I can keep my own. When she stopped at early summer, I find myself in deep winter. Snow piles around the cabins and the Orbiter, ready to betray by keeping tracks deep and clear. Game hunters rove stilling forests.

I am learning the new rules of my hunt.

Inau Rho chose to keep other Tenno here. She acts only with the grace of the locals. Her purpose in this mission is to give operators and warframes a haven as they heal wounds mental and physical. Limbo, Frost, and I remain with her. The others have taken advantage of time spent training the somatic link and wander the system. They return often.

Inau granted the three of us roles in her facility. Limbo educates and researches; few Tenno have educations the Orokin would deem complete for a child, let alone anything more advanced. Frost watches over the facility, ensuring its safety. At times, he wanders to the village to do the same for them. I ensure the tenants do not cause trouble. If they become aggressive, I cease any ability usage. If they are lost, I find them.

I cannot hurt them. That is the most important and most confounding rule. All my training, my skillset, thrown away.

Currently we house a feral Zephyr and the operator attempting to bond with her. He says the Zephyr is named Bluebird. As one would expect, she is primarily various shades of blue, with pink accents. Shadow struck down Bluebird's original operator. The other tenant is a lone operator. They have no warframe, the Loki they were linked with died on Alad V's table. For now they are Limbo's student and await either another feral to arrive (all of Bluebird's fellows went to her original operator's other friends) or to pick “just the right” blueprints. I don't care how long it takes them. They are more tolerable than Bluebird.

Bluebird's operator is Rhys. The lone one is Absidee.

Absidee apparently spells it Abcde. They like the spelling Absidee though.

I am now on the Orbiter's roof to avoid further intrusions. Clearly Mag granted me this journal to create a weakness. I must work hard to defend this collection of plant fiber and ink from intrusion.

How can I teach Absidee to properly respect and fear me when they are newly awakened and I cannot cause them harm?


	2. Do Not Touch Me

Journal,

Bluebird attempted another confrontation. She is light but vicious. Rhys yelled for her to stop but it was insufficient. He knows it's insufficient. I had to pin her to a wall so she would stop and all he did was stand off well out of our reach and shout, “Bluebird, no, that's not right.”

Rhino has returned to visit, so he stepped in and took my place until Bluebird calmed. He attempted to put one of her hands on my arm, over some of the scarring. That is when I left.

There is a small waterfall near the Orbiter, but the flora is thick enough to obscure the Orbiter's view of the waterfall and vice versa. It is covered in ice this time of year. None bother me here. Occasionally I see Frost's tracks, but he passes by in the dawn and evening hours. Easy enough to avoid.

Inau tried to use Transference to teleport to me. I pushed her away. She is not to find my places. She still impressed a desire to speak with me and ascertain what happened so she can better instruct Bluebird and Rhys. Primarily Rhys. I think Bluebird is beyond instruction at the time.

I did not respond to her immediately. I am not her kubrow. I spent the time I needed at the waterfall to myself. Most of the scarring from the past year is fading. Every day there is less and less point in touching it to prove my difference from Shadow.

The exception, the cruelest one, remains the one running through my abdomen. None may touch it. Even I do not.

When I met with Inau, she did not ask where I had been. She knows better than this now. She simply asked me to describe what happened before, during, and after the incident. It was not different from previous ones, save for Rhino's intervention. Bluebird saw me, attacked, I stopped her. Rhys failed to do anything about it.

Inau wants me to leave them alone. She says I am a negative influence on Bluebird's mental state at this time of her recovery. Frost and Rhino will handle her for now. Good for them. She's their problem.

However, this leaves me with nothing to do. Absidee fears the wilderness too greatly to flee. They do not fight. They cling to Limbo and the lessons he offers. They spent months isolated in their Orbiter after their Loki died, their ignorance and social unawareness is at least explainable.

I listen in on the lessons sometimes. There is a space in the kitchen (where most lessons happen) nobody ever seems to look and is sufficiently ergonomic to stay for extended periods of time. I do not understand how Limbo sustains such patience for the basics. He is far beyond concerning himself with them.

The attention must sustain him.


	3. Best Course of Treatment

Journal,

Inau and Rhys struggle to reconcile their experiences. Inau spent so much time around Frost and acted normally around him, then re-taught him who he was. He remembered little. Rhys and Bluebird share a trauma, losing their friend/operator.

And I am the brunt of it.

Rhys is giving up on stopping Bluebird. He argued with Inau about it. He believes Bluebird needs to come to terms with what happened via her urge to fight me. In other words, he wants her to fight me. And preferably win.

Neither I nor Inau enjoy the idea. She says vengeance is pointless. Bluebird is not even getting vengeance, though. I am not Shadow. Bluebird is too feral to care, I look enough like him. Also, we are not finding some way to summon Shadow to our facility for Bluebird to fight who she needs to. Rhys is not interested in the difference between Shadow and I, either.

Inau wants him to work more with Bluebird outside of her trauma. To help her move on from it. I've been avoiding her, but she seeks me out. That needs to stop. Inau agrees with me. Give the incorrect target space.

Rhino seems to maintain the idea we need to inform Bluebird she's not chasing Shadow. He found footage of Shadow and, when he can sit her down, tries to literally point out the differences. He showed her Broken War (which he keeps with him, a mockery of my failure).

Nothing is helping. As soon as Rhys attempts to connect with her, she uses the void energy he provides to try and fly off, if not fly at me. Then I must chase her down, which sets her off.

Inau needs to tell him to connect with Bluebird indoors. He won't listen to me.

Absidee wants to help. That led to another fight. Rhys thinks two other operators around is interfering with his ability to bond with Bluebird. Their emotions spilled so much void energy into the area. How did a fissure not form where they stood?

The issue wasn't worth killing everyone over. Rhys sulked when I appeared. He said to Absidee, “She's _my_ warframe, I know what's best for her. You couldn't even keep yours alive!” and left.

Absidee teared up over the comment. Rhys did not lie about the fact Absidee's Loki is dead. They attempted to come up with a defense but they ended up sulking, too.

I will not let Bluebird win. If she is to win, she will earn it. I am no toy for others to mistreat.


	4. Excalibur and Terin

Journal,

We have a new arrival. They could not have come at a worse time, but Inau did not turn them away. They're taking up the last cabin.

The operator is named Terin Hal. She is older than Inau, strong and full of anger.

She arrived with an Excalibur. One with metallic accents, and a coat pattern similar to other Excaliburs, but not quite the same, as if it got muddied in his creation. Fogging breath billowed out the slits of his helm – Mordred, the Tenno call it. He is missing an arm, the left one. It is severed at the shoulder, the scars healed but newly so. Not fresh, but this is not an old wound. He attempts to cover it with a syandana, but the wind blew it from where it rested.

This strange Excalibur froze upon seeing me. I do not remember him, and I would recall such a strange warframe. Whatever he endured, it involved Shadow.

His operator, like Bluebird and Rhys, ignored the difference. Her boots dug into the snow with every step and her energy crackled into a waiting storm, raising her pale hair into a hackle. I expected her to shout, to blast, to cry for whatever tortures her warframes and herself endured for their traitorous past, now facing retribution.

She was not so complicated. She aimed to sock me in the belly.

I caught her fist and twisted her arm, throwing her down into the ground. I looked to her Excalibur, down at her, and warned, “None touch me without my willing it.”

Rhino and Mag found the scene. I left them to handle it, before the Excalibur got any ideas, or Terin got off the ground.

Somewhere as small as this, it is impossible to avoid someone for long. The clouds lingering in the sky gathered and let down their sleet, driving even Frost indoors. Ice sloughed off him in sheets. Most retired to the kitchen to eat and socialize. Rhys kept Bluebird from perching on the table. Rhino took up his post at the stove, watching dumplings steam. Their scent, light and spiced, wafted through the Orbiter. Excalibur, awkward in his recruitment, spooned filling onto dough sheets Mag and Terin folded into neat envelopes. Limbo and Frost bickered over some nonsensical problem, Inau and Absidee providing commentary.

I watched from the adjoining room, cloaked in shadow, well out of Excalibur's sight and that of most others. Rhino's gaze lingered my way a few moments too long for him to be unaware.

Rhino reached for a dumpling and Inau squawked. She scrambled from the chair and over to the steaming basket, her warframe permitting her to push up beside him. “This is the worst part,” she announced, and, yelling all the while, plucked dumplings from the basket and set them on a plate. It got a laugh from Absidee and a tired hiss from Terin, along with the Cephalon's usual protests.

Inau presented the dumplings to the other Tenno with a flourish. She acts so careless, unburdened. I have seen her tears and watch her sicken at the weight of her actions. What purpose does pretending serve? Doesn't she know she fixes these Tenno only so they return to the battlefront? She may be naive, but she is one of them. She must know their sole language is violence. She risks herself, providing for them. They show dissatisfaction via slaughter.

Their conversation tended towards the standard for when there's a new arrival. They spoke of how long they had been awakened – Terin woke from the first dream earlier than the rest, and the second soon after Inau. They discussed Bluebird and Loki and quieted when the conversation turned to Excalibur.

“How's he- how are you holding up?” Absidee asked. Chubby cheeks darkened at the near-slip. Too unused to visitors who cannot speak for themselves.

Excalibur dropped the spoon into the remnant dumpling filling, fumbled a sign, and rasped, “Terin-” He stopped himself, shuddering as the humans do when they clear their throats. “It's an adjustment.”

The silence permeated further than the dumpling smell. Even Rhino stopped to stare at Excalibur. The attention got to him, I knew. The muscles in his shoulders and back tensed, coiled.

“I didn't know warframes could talk,” Rhys said. “I mean, except...” He trailed off and looked at Inau, then around the room. I knew what he meant. All their warframes, silent monsters. Even among those with some form of voice, the Rhinos and Niduses and Valkyrs and their ilk, it is untrained and crude, useless for language. Save for those which hunt them down.

This does not mean Excalibur sounds well. His voice is hoarse, his words slurred and almost bubbling. The only advantage it has over his signing is that it does not require his sole hand. He sounds worse than myself after Inau found me, and the effort to heal my wounds sapped any energy I had for speech.

That he speaks at all, though, stunned me as much as it did all but Terin.

“Frost, have you been able to talk this whole time?” Absidee teased.

He tried, I think. He matched Excalibur's posture and movements, including the judder. He pressed his breath into the effort, but came up with only an airy hiss of emptying lungs. He shrugged and scratched thrice at his throat, his sign for _mute._

Limbo bowed out of the opportunity when the Tenno turned to him. Mag shook her head and finished folding dumplings. Rhino braced himself over the stove while they stared. He built from a low hum into a growl, then an animal roar that made the operators cover their ears.

They fawned over Excalibur and his voice some while longer, until the conversation returned to dinner and they invited those standing by the kitchen equipment to join them. Excalibur turned my way and his head raised, almost meeting the glow of my energy before Mag stepped in front, her signing catching his attention as she led him away.

Another one to keep track of. At least he seems to fear me too much to fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! Meet my friend's characters; they're going to be here hanging out with everyone, bring that fresh and fun drama, you know?


	5. The Matter

Journal,

Ordis and Terin discussed the matter of Excalibur. While she sat at the Orbiter's exposed airlock, mug in hand, watching Inau's warframes try to socialize with Bluebird, they spoke. They kept their voices low as if that was sufficient to keep secrets around here.

“Your warframe is very attached to you,” Ordis said. Excalibur rarely leaves Terin's side. In this instance, Excalibur happened to be talking with Limbo about physical therapy.

“No, yeah, it's kind of been like this since I met him. He's always been protective, like it's burned into his psyche. And he's been hurting for longer than I've known him, but no, not like this. This is different.” She nodded at the syandana covering Excalibur's missing arm. “Ever since our friend encountered Stalker – I suppose it's Other Stalker. We were working with her. He... we couldn't save her, and he lost the arm in a pretty bad way. He wouldn't let us fix it, not even after we recovered her warframe. And her body.”

Ordis muttered the question I was asking myself. Can one lose an arm in a good way? I don't think Terin heard. Or she didn't respond.

“Understandably so- where did you meet your warframe?” A good question. I would have asked it myself. Excalibur does not seem like an ex-feral.

“It's complicated, but...” She drank more from her mug before answering. I risked detection leaning closer to see if she'd answered already. “I was at- I found him fending off Grineer. After everything with Lua.”

“Would it help your Excalibur if - _the murderous bastard_ \- Stalker stayed away from him?”

“It was literally my only concern coming here, so yeah. Let's keep 'em separate best we can. Why does _she_ keep him around, anyways?”

“He saved the operator once and is technically employed to prevent ability abuse. Ordis thinks Rhino or Mag could accomplish the task. In practice, he serves to further expose residents to the source of their trauma.”

“Like Bluebird.”

“Yes, like Bluebird.” Ordis paused. “Perhaps like Excal-”

“Don't say it.” She did not cry. She put in great effort to not cry, I am sure. But, taking the risk of movement, I saw the wet shine in her eyes.

What I wish to know is where else I could go, and how I could get there. Stow away on one of the landing vessels when a Tenno comes or goes? Wander about the wilderness like Frost did after his original operator died?

What would I do once I left? While I am here, there is a ceasefire. The Tenno and I do not harm each other. At least, we do not kill. Nobody will be present to hold that peace elsewhere. Those willing to fight me to the death await, and I am unarmed. I do not expect to be armed so long as I am here. Ordis alerts the others the moment I near the armory, no matter the angle I approach it from. If I steal something, I may well end the tenuous ceasefire as it is.

Excalibur will have to live with me. I make my home here.


	6. Fellow Ghosts

Journal,

Inau often awakes and paces when her past haunts her. Sometimes it is the distant – life during the Orokin Empire, battling the Sentients for the sake of the many. When Rhino is here, she stays with him, either showing up belowdecks or summoned up to her. When he is not available, that role falls to, in turn, Mag, Vauban, or Limbo.

Yet last night she crept down the ladder and sat with me. Bypassed Limbo and Frost entirely. I feigned sleep in the hopes it would discourage her. It didn't. She sat by my side, unafraid. She hasn't been afraid since Transference. Not like before.

Have I been failing my fellow ghosts so badly? Their will made flesh, nothing more than the sword in their hand, grown dull and brittle. Useless, even as their cruelest enemies wrest it from their hands.

“You don't sleep that easily,” she whispered after a good few minutes of sitting in silence. She spoke with the rasp of tears, and when I relented and turned my head her eyes were reddened and puffy. She rubbed an eye. “Sorry. You're- the connection's there.”

“Seek your comforts there.” I pointed at Limbo and Frost, curled up together, kicking each other's knees in their sleep.

She stared out at them and hugged her knees to her chest. I'd failed yet again to accomplish a simple task. One ~~child-shaped~~ Void demon, and I couldn't shoo her away, let alone avenge the deaths she ~~witnessed~~ permitted.

“I don't want to be comforted,” she said.

I still do not understand why she said this. I listened to her explain the matter and do not understand. Inau Rho acknowledges her problems and solves them by leaving them behind.

She kept talking, giving the explanation. “The other Tenno don't like talking about killing like I talk about it. Rhino never talks back. All the others try to make me feel better and tell me it's okay. You don't care. But you agree with me, I think, in a really weird way.”

We argued this for some time. What the Tenno did may have been the start of their warmaking and bloodthirsty culture, and her repentance shows there may be some hope for her, but the Orokin are gone. The people who took us from the dredges and gave us grander purpose, extinguished. The Tenno's high-profile killings never served more importance than a method to identify and track them down. The Grineer and Corpus are nothing but remnants; the issue is not with their deaths but with the fact they are all that's left, born from blood spilled by Tenno blades. The weight of their past is what matters. That is what they must feel.

She may have that point. It does not answer why she sought the company of someone who takes no mercy on her for the deaths she caused, condoned, and benefited from. She cried again while I spoke. A blatant display of weakness.

She can afford such things. She could have struck me down at her leisure months ago, and such breakthroughs as long-distance links have only strengthened her. My tactics must change to soothe the angry dead. Such power in one demon is bad enough. At that, one demon who seeks out attention and coddling.

I dare say I fear that who seeks the cradle more than that who seeks the grave.


	7. Tame

Journal,

Bluebird is done.

I took pains to leave her alone. I am as sick of her as I imagine she is of me. Rhys works with her, arguably.

Most of what he does appears to be arguing with Inau.

While he fought her, Bluebird snuck off. Despite his observations and insistence she is hopeless, she has become more cunning. She knows where I go. She waits until I am not looking to approach. She watches the others sign more and more closely.

I think I've seen her attempt to sign.

When I am up the mountain, able to view the Orbiter, but not somewhere most would bother to look, I do not want to be found. Not by Inau, not by Frost, not by Mag, not by Absidee or Rhys or Bluebird or Excalibur. Much of my existence now has been spent alone. I enjoyed it that way.

She did not hide her steps well enough. Tenno are quiet. I am trained to find them anyways.

The fight went as usual. She attempted to shred my throat, I kept her away. Not a difficult task. Zephyrs do not hold strength advantage on the ground.

One of the operators screamed. Apparently they decided to hike – Inau, Absidee, and Rhys did, anyways. Terin elected to protect the base. They did not expect to encounter me.

Rhys shot a beam at me. It struck my arm and burned, enough so that I lost my grip on Bluebird. Even as I write I've got a cool, damp cloth on it.

Inau stopped him before he could do further damage. This led to a physical fight between the two as Inau tried to hold him back and Rhys tried to help Bluebird injure me. Both refused to use their powers on each other, but scrawny as they are, neither progressed in the battle.

Absidee bypassed this and ran past them to directly attempt untangling Bluebird and I. A futile prospect, Bluebird wiggled out of their grip and I refused to let them touch me. This particular ~~child~~ demon had yet to understand I neither require nor need their assistance. That did not stop them from screaming and grabbing Bluebird around the waist to pull her away every chance they got, though.

I decided I was done with the matter and pinned Bluebird's arms. I threw her down and, meeting Inau's eye, backed off.

Bluebird did hit the ground, only to rocket into the sky in a mere moment. To this point, she had not been flight-capable; she is not umbral. Not like I am. Nor is she a Prime.

Absidee's absence explained the matter.

The two did not end Transference for most of the day. They spent most of that time flitting from tree to tree, avoiding Rhys.

It is strange to see genuine heartbreak in a demon's eyes. Bluebird belonged to _his_ friend. She was intended for him, yet he could not bond with her. He continually insists that Absidee will be unable to “save” her, unable to return her to her proper personality. He drove himself to tears over it. Inau could not console him, despite her efforts. Terin punched him in the gut for claiming Bluebird as his.

Terin is strong. Moreso than most any operator I have seen. This is fascinating, when her strength is turned against others. She took no mercy on Rhys, telling him that Bluebird made her decision and to leave her to live with Absidee. He has other frames, they do not.

Rhys did not like being hit and shouted at. He will leave tomorrow morning, if his furious packing is any indication. Mag brought him some food; he thanked her but refused to look her in the face, instead casting his gaze to the floor.

Mag proceeded to lecture me on spying when she turned and startled upon seeing me leaning on the side of the Orbiter. I half-watched; the sky shone clear for once that night, and the stars on the lake proved a noteworthy sight. What does she expect of me? All the warframes here have their operators to turn to. They are dependent and happy to be so, chained to children. That the Tenno sometimes learn how to give more line to the chain does not cease it from existing.

I sustain myself. Anything less would be unforgivable weakness.

Their whims must come second.


	8. A Visitor

Journal,

Excalibur ~~caught~~ ~~found~~ encountered me belowdecks. I suspect he wanted Mag – he halfway signed her name before spotting me.

He froze. I glanced at him and continued tuning Frost's bass. The off-key sound has bothered me for the better part of a week. But Frost is busy assisting Inau as Absidee and Bluebird fend off the last vestiges of feral-ness. So the duty turns to me.

Within a minute I knew his freezing was not a standard stress reaction. I noted his rapid breathing that, as time passed, grew more audible. Warframes do not audibly breathe even in battle.

After not much longer Terin descended the ladder. She stepped between Excalibur and I, glowering.

“You intrude my space,” I reminded her. “Leave.”

She did not leave. Disappointing, but expected. Who's heard of a polite demon? Instead of leaving, she responded with, “Why the fuck are you here?”

“I choose to be. Leave.” I plucked a couple strings, scrutinizing their sound. Still not quite right.

“No.”

My sigh was more of a growl. I played more, ignored her. When the sound felt better, I started a short tune, one taken from Shadow's memories. I do not know if he will miss it, if he has his own copy. While I played Terin's face reddened, her jaw clenching. Excalibur kneaded her shoulder, breaths still heavy.

She stepped forwards while he stepped away, with her only held back by Excalibur's iron grip. “Why the fuck are you here? You're a mistake, Inau Rho made the biggest fucking mistake in the solar system letting you live-”

I set the bass down and stood. I closed the gap between her and I. Enveloped in my nullifying field, Excalibur could not have summoned his blade. Terin set her chin and met my gaze. I addressed her. “She permits her twice-feral Frost to live. She permits her broken Limbo to live. She does not dismiss, she does not discard.” I nodded at Excalibur. “Don't you understand? You brought him.”

She headbutted me. Standing just under my chin, she was well positioned for it. But it required rocking all her weight to her front. I took the momentary opening and kicked her legs out. She sprawled onto me. I grabbed her as she fell and pushed her back into Excalibur.

I returned to the bass. Terin fought Excalibur but not so much he let her go. Instead he dragged her to a corner and huddled in it, staring. Terin disappeared into him and Excalibur's body stilled under her control.

They might have listened while I played. I doubt it. What would they care for old spacers' songs and fragments of anthems buried deep in memory? Excalibur's head bobbed at some of the latter, breath hitching.

They stayed. She watched me; the hate I knew the Tenno held burned in her eyeless gaze.

In time I ran out of music to play and tuning to do. In the long pause, I asked, “Why are you still here?”

“I'm not leaving until you talk.” Despite being linked with Excalibur, her voice didn't change.

“About what?”

Terin's voice began to crack. She clutched ~~her~~ Excalibur's arm tight to his side, digging into his own flesh. “About why she lets you stay. You're a _murderer_ , what about you makes her think she can trust you? Why does she expect _me_ to trust you? Does she think I'm fucking blind?”

She just kept talking. “Why aren't you locked in the basement or something like the danger you are? You and Inau can talk and talk about not being Shadow Stalker, but that's all it is. Talk. He wouldn't be here if it weren't for you!” She inhaled, like it or not I think she began crying. She squeezed Excalibur's remaining arm harder and pointed at the remnants of the other. “I'd have both arms-”

The two seemed to falter, body language shifting with a new person in control. Excalibur rasped something wordless, shaking his head.

Then Terin was back. “You would! And I wouldn't have had to find what was left of my friend from Alad V's fucking lab after _he_ ripped her out of Transference and murdered her! It's all your fault and you think I'm not supposed to care.”

“Nothing to talk about.” I improvised. Plucked a few strings. “Your mind is set.”

“You piece of shit.”

She and Excalibur did leave, finally. I think he got sick of us interacting and herded her up the ladder.

I must go. Dinner is soon. I won't miss it.


	9. Snowstorm

Journal,

It is much quieter without Rhys and I am glad for it. Bluebird almost fought me again at each meal she attended today. Neither of us will stop going to them. She cannot let me win, I cannot let her and Terin win.

A snowstorm rages outside. Few are leaving the Orbiter for any reason. Frost is nowhere to be found, no doubt enjoying the storm. Limbo decided it a perfect time for education and is helping Absidee and Inau solve some problems while Bluebird looks on and Polar Bear sleeps at Inau's feet. Mag is guiding Excalibur through some stretches and nartas. Ordis and Terin continue to talk.

I almost wish to tell Excalibur they are being kind to him. Rhino provided little time for stretching before pinning me to a wall.

Causing him another panic attack would accomplish little more than undue fighting. When we are all limited to a space like this, increasing the tension doesn't appeal to me.

Well, they are limited to this space. I can visit the cabins without getting snowed on.

I do not search their things. I observe the space. Whether it is cluttered or not, how much ash has gathered in the fireplace, whether anything is suspicious. What are the sights, the sounds, the smells.

On the last note, Absidee needs to clean their room. It's disgusting.

Ordis suspects my visits. I work carefully but Vauban did well in wiring the cabins for the cephalon to access them. I was there for their construction, though, so I know where I can go to best avoid detection.

Inau expects Vauban to visit soon. She does not know whether he will bring any of the people he's worked with, so the vacant cabin is tentatively available. Absidee is also talking to Inau often about what they will need to do after leaving the facility to continue Bluebird's care, so I suspect they will leave soon, too. Good.

Absidee has, for a Tenno, not been too offensive. They have had little opportunity to act, and while they have talked extensively about going to Venus or Jupiter over dinner, they appear most interested in flight. In particular, they have attempted to veer their lessons with Limbo more towards aeronautics. Not Limbo's area of expertise. I know this. When sent careening from the Orbiter roof, he cannot leverage his knowledge of physics. Instead, he requires someone to catch him before he plows face-first into the ground.

For the reference of anyone reading this, I did not throw him from the roof. I do not join in their games.


	10. Building Tolerance

Journal,

The storm abated. Absidee and Bluebird took to the skies again. That is not to say it is clear; the wind and snow continues albeit not as strongly as before. They are building their skill and tolerance to more severe conditions.

I am not the only one who elected to be outside instead of trapped with everyone else. Mag and Excalibur sit within view. I cannot get closer without risking the physical integrity of this journal due to my current position under cover, but they are both watching Bluebird and conversing. Excalibur is a slow signer, but with them facing away from me, I cannot tell what all he is saying. In addition, he primarily fingerspells unless a sign only requires one hand.

More observable is that he and Mag are sitting close, but not quite as close as one would sit with someone they are very familiar with. Mag has subtly moved closer over time, neither seem to have noticed.

Does he know Mag is supposed to be leaving soon? She searched through available missions the night before. She and Ordis made plans for how she will get off-planet and go accomplish them. She is considering Rathuum or the Index so she could earn more credits to put towards a new landing craft.

Inau will need to find someone to help him with physical therapy. Terin often works with him. Limbo provides understanding and solidarity. Frost helps where he can. Vauban may be able to assist like Mag does, but he will need to be updated on what is going on.

There's a large animal approaching the facility. My duty requires me to fend it off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late post, folks! Been a bit busy, finals approaching, graduation stuff coming up in a month, many things. Two chapters (short ones, albeit) to make up for it.


	11. Night

Journal,

Someone dropped off a new resident today.

I did not catch the Tenno's name. I only saw her speaking with Inau. She is tall, lanky, with long hair dyed white. She left shortly after intake.

The warframe she brought to the facility is an Equinox. Specifically, an Equinox who has not switched from night form at any point since she came here. Her coloration is standard, but her helm is not, instead crestlike with obvious eyes. Rather, one obvious eye. The other is patched.

She appears to be blind on her left side. Blind and deaf. She does not notice anyone approaching her from that side until they are within sight of her uncovered eye, and then she startles. Upon closer observation, she also appears to limp slightly on that side and her dexterity is poor in that hand; her attempted conversation with Limbo was a garbled mess.

Inau confirmed what I suspected. The Equinox is missing her day half entirely. According to her operator, the Equinox had a mod equipped that effectively split her in two for some time whenever she left her combined form. Something happened to the day form and the Equinox has been unable to transform into day or her combined form since.

She is hiding belowdecks. Of all places, she hid in my nook. She shrinks away from anyone who approaches her, including the most non-threatening people. It should be a simple matter to displace her but Inau wants me to leave her alone until she settles in. However, by then, she will have deemed my space as hers.

Frost can sacrifice his nook. He rarely uses it.

The transplantation was successful. I approached and did not move until she slunk away. I pointed her towards Frost's nook and she took it up. It briefly confused Inau when she came belowdecks with a blanket, but she did not protest.

The Equinox is asleep. She did not react when I approached again. She looks unusual, like her head is slightly too large for her body. Childish proportions, with such an alien face and design.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we meet Night! She's using the Solstice helm; I'd always felt Equinox's head was a bit too big for their body, especially with that helm. (They're yet another one of the frames I have, but I will admit to building a Maim Equinox like the lazy nuker I am.)


	12. Nocturnal

Journal,

The Equinox calls herself Night, as best as anyone can tell. Limbo offered to work with her on the matter of her manual dexterity and abysmal signing in particular. This was in the morning. By midday, she was fast asleep. Frost stares at her, forlorn, for she's taken his nook. He tried picking her up earlier and she... cried? She curled up and shook, her breath shuddering.

Terin and Excalibur visited belowdecks again, accompanying Frost. I stayed out of their view, though Excalibur continually looked around, on guard. Terin asked Frost where I could be and he shrugged. Once he set Night down again, he said he does not know where my “usual haunts” are. Valuable knowledge, unless he lies to them. But why? Wouldn't he find satisfaction in letting Terin and Excalibur disturb me?

She found her way back to my nook. She's awake now, watching me. She does not appear afraid, no more than she is of anyone else. Why does she take my place? She knows it's mine.

This time she did not startle away when I approached. Her breath quickened but she did not leave. She pulled her limbs in, stiffening when I reached for her. When I picked her up she shoved her feet against my chest and rolled away. I did get a proper hold on her and removed her.

Currently she stares at me from Frost's nook. I need to keep watch over the facility, or I would stay and ensure she does not take my place again.

The sun shines again, though weak through clouds. Sufficiently clear weather to keep this journal safe while I ascertain whether Frost does know where I stay or not. I know he's been around the waterfall.

Absidee and Bluebird are out again. They're practicing signs, separately and with Transference. Frost is assisting them as he patrols. Bluebird has become much more tame than Frost did in such a short time; is it because there's multiple operators around? Or that there was little time between her losing her original operator and Rhys finding her and starting the process?

Inau and Ordis have been discussing the matter. He wants to know the best predictors for success in taming a feral frame. She thinks all of them have hope, but she wants to know how long and difficult a given frame's path will be.

I still think we will need to see failures to better understand. We have few ferals; Bluebird is the second we have seen. Both were due to Shadow. The other, another Limbo, proved difficult and almost destructive. However, he softened eventually and I believe he is still in contact with Inau's Limbo.

After checking all my usual spaces, I've seen no evidence of anyone disrupting them. Only wildlife. I returned to the Orbiter in time for Inau to ask if I could bring some food to the village, there was a new child and she wanted to do her part to help the parents.

It is strange yet not entirely unpleasant, interacting with the villagers. They never had Tenno around before, I am nothing but another warframe to them. They show no fear, though with how exhausted the woman who answered and accepted the food looked, I doubt she had the energy to be scared of a Fomorian looming overhead, let alone something her size.

By the time I returned Night dared to show her face. Ordis was attempting to encourage her to stay up when she took one look out the window and settled in next to Limbo. They began working on her signing and I believe they are still working. Both focus intensely.

Frost reclaimed his nook.

It is well into the night, and Night is nowhere to be seen. Hopefully she returns so I don't have to hunt her down in the morning.


	13. Schooling

Journal,

Limbo approached Terin today, offering to tutor her. Absidee spends more and more time with Bluebird, leaving him without a protege. She wore great uncertainty but she accepted and followed him to the kitchen table.

Excalibur accompanied her. I have yet to see him out of her sight, or her out of his, for more than a few minutes. If he is not with her, he is with Mag. He did not notice me there, nor did Terin. I remained out of their way and Limbo drew no attention to me. Instead he busied his new students.

When Limbo set down a tablet loaded with his placement test in front of both of them, I don't think Excalibur knew what to do about it. He watched as Limbo laid out the rules – calculators permitted after question fifteen, take as much time as needed, there is no shame in admitting you don't know something.

He tested the exam on the rest of us months ago. The mechanics are simple: you answer questions that start out insultingly basic but ramp up in intensity and complexity. With each question you explain your reasoning. If you cannot even guess at an answer, you write “I don't know” and move to the next. If you get three of those in a row, you are done and return it to Limbo.

Terin did... There has been worse. Similar with Excalibur.

Both passed their tests in to Limbo in relatively short order. He looked the tests over long enough to make both squirm in their seats. He glanced up at them every now and again, scribbled a note, asked the rare clarifying question. I saw the tests later, he deemed Terin too far in the abstract and Excalibur too stolid and practical.

The treatment is, as usual, a battery of math and physics. He's spent much of the night drawing up plans on how to handle the two of them in particular.

I hear Excalibur and Terin. Inau asked me to leave them be.

Fucking stars and sun and moon Night found the spot in the cargo bay. She stood there, squeezed between two crates of oxium. I almost kicked her. She's not leaving, I'd say she couldn't hear me and that's why she's still here but I signed in front of her and she still didn't respond.

I'm staying here. I'm sitting above her, ensuring she doesn't run off.


	14. Sneaky

Journal,

She was there almost all day. When she finally slunk off, stars speckled the sky. I warned her to stay within the cabin space. She sat down and stared at the stars, and did not wander off. Not while I watched.

Frost sat with her. I do not think they conversed at all. Bluebird joined them, alongside Absidee.

Inside, Excalibur and Terin worked with Limbo. Inau offered her assistance, only for Terin to blow her off. Excalibur seemed somewhat more accepting, but Inau obeyed the least common denominator and left them alone. I considered seeing if they took my assistance any better than hers, but I did not want to find myself on the wrong end of Excalibur's blade. Some day he will break out of his catatonia upon seeing me and seek my death instead, just like all the rest.

Mag left her journal unattended for once. I did not read all of it, but I did discover Limbo also reads her journal. He leaves commentary, foolish enough. His handwriting gives him away. I did no such things.

She writes about Excalibur with great flourish. She is impressed by his determination to continue wielding a galatine one-armed. She enjoys his quiet, thoughtful personality. She wishes the world had been kinder to him, she suspects some greater torment beyond my existence.

She admitted to enjoying assisting him with physical therapy when he asks for her, and watching him practice with his sword. She said his form flows, unlike the rough strength of bulkier warframes, or the delicate yet steady power of one focused on support. Of course a body build and musculature of a warframe like Excalibur would contribute to such imagery. Has she not been paying attention to other Excaliburs? Or even Ash frames, they have a similar build.

Tonight I must hide this journal elsewhere. I do not want Limbo to get brave and seek mine out, or Mag to do the same out of a sense of revenge.

Limbo left his teaching materials all over the table. He is drawing more of the little comics he creates to explain concepts. An old art form, simplistic. I do not know whether he has been forced to look beyond warfare or if other warframes are so inclined to move beyond their destructive purpose. They have their diversions, things they do to fill the time between battles, but even Rhino left his darling operator in the pursuit of bloodshed. Could there be anything else for us?

No. Of course not. This has been my unwitting truth. We are weapons. All the rest is flourish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I'm dead! I graduate tomorrow, whee!


	15. Hollow

Journal,

Night disappeared today.

Absidee and Bluebird packed up and left, ferrying Mag with them. That busied us for the morning. But by lunch, Frost began asking if we'd seen Night. A thorough search of the site showed nothing, so Inau set me on the trail like a starved kubrow.

The hunt took me deep into the forest. The soft ground beyond the site preserved her tracks, aimless and heavy. She got turned around often, crossing a brook multiple times at one point. The trek must have taken hours.

I found her as the sky warmed from blue to pink. She hid under tangled tree roots, contorted into a space she should not have fit. She fought when I attempted to retrieve her, taking advantage of her position to wrest herself away. She left scratches up and down my wrists. If I could have gotten a better hold, I could have teleported her out of her hiding place.

When I peered into the roots I found her shaking, her gaze distant. Unlike most warframes, her helm makes her eye(s) obvious, if shielded. Yet even with a blank-faced warframe you can get a sense of their focus and intensity. She is simply more obvious about it.

Just as it was obvious I needed to approach the matter differently. I tapped into the thin bond of Transference to search out Inau's solutions. Perhaps one creature ruled by fear and misery could help another.

“What's wrong?” I asked. “We must return.”

She had to sign multiple times for me to see. _Sun._

And that led to me sitting there outside the hole she'd found. She grasped my ankle, clinging single-handedly yet with all the desperation of a person drowning.

She refused to move so long as the sun was in the sky. Which answers why she acts nocturnal. The next question we all hold is whether this is a physiological or purely psychological response. Ordis found no damage to her beyond what was already known, but that does not mean she felt no pain to be out in the sunlight.

As soon as night fell – late afternoon, at this time of year - she accepted my help out and we returned to the Orbiter. She clung to me while I teleported us back, stepping into the spaces between trees. Mag does so out of fear, holding on but at a slight distance. Not so for Night, I could have been some stuffed toy for all she cared.

It took her a few moments to process we were back. I pried her off me and went to see if Inau had any other tasks to accomplish.

Night stood out in the snow until Excalibur approached her. I do not know if he spoke or signed, but the two eventually went inside Terin's cabin. Terin herself was not in the Orbiter, so likely they joined her in whatever she was up to.

We will need to be more careful about monitoring Night's activity. I supect I will get volunteered for the task. I do not sleep as heavily or easily as the others as it is. It is little sacrifice.


	16. Personhood/Personality

Journal,

It has been a few days, yes. Little happened worth writing down. Night wandered off again, not as far this time. Vauban stopped by, much to Inau's delight. He is shy around Excalibur and Night and Terin, though Excalibur took some effort to break through his shell. He asked Vauban about a project and got a long ramble that Vauban apologized profusely for, no matter how much Excalibur insisted it was fine, he was listening.

Tonight, though, I caught Excalibur and Night talking, sitting outside the Orbiter and watching the snow fall. I managed to find an angle neither saw me at, but I could watch Night sign. There are only minor improvements to her coordination thus far.

 _Does it ever hurt?_ she asked him, pointing at the syandana covering the stump of his left arm.

He considered it for some time. The muscles in his shoulder and chest shifted and rolled. “Yes. It's agonizing, sometimes.”

They quieted. Night stared up at the sky and let fat clusters of snowflakes gather on her face.

“If you need to talk...” Excalibur slowed and rocked side to side, rubbing his collar. Even scratchy, slurred speech is difficult for him. “I know what it's like. Losing someone.”

She turned to stare at him. Despite having eyes – or an eye - her gaze is more blank and alien than other warframes'. _I didn't lose a person. I lost me. Everyone thinks Day and Night are different people but they're wrong. I am me. Was me. Am I me if I am one third of myself?_

“Oh. They're identities?”

 _I don't know. I am she._ She gestured to herself. _But I should also be he and they. It's gone now. I remember being he and they and needing to be he and they but they're gone. Locked off._

He nodded. “And it hurts?”

_Entire bodies, amputated. A mind in pieces._

He held his arm out, I'm not sure if just to pat her back or what, but she took it as a hug. “I'm sorry.”

_I want to be him again. I want to be them. I don't know what's left._

“You can be them.”

_I don't have their forms._

“Plenty of people don't change their bodies. Do what you want.”

They did not say much more. Night kept hugging Excalibur, kneading his syandana. The cold got to be too much, and Excalibur went back to the cabin. Night wandered inside and attempted to take my nook again. I pushed her out and laid down. She stared at me for a while before going to Frost's (empty!) nook and slept there.


	17. Hunger

Journal,

I asked Night how to refer to her. She said that “she” is fine for now, then accused me of listening in on her and Excalibur's conversation. She is not wrong but I did not couch it as an attempt to spy on the two of them. Multiple people can be outdoors at a time.

Frost and Limbo taught her their sign for my name. She thinks this is hilarious. I need to think of a new name sign, but Frost's caught on too well with the general populace. Nobody would accept mine. If I ask them whether they believe I am fine with such an insulting name, they will respond that my past actions mean I do not deserve anything more respectful. As if they all forget why I am here in the first place. All of us have blood on our hands.

More of Terin's warframes are visiting, as are Ma and Zacha. I encountered Inau and Zacha cleaning snow away from around the buildings; Ma gave them a task so it seems, though Zacha complained it wasn't his job.

The warframes are an Oberon and a Valkyr. I met Valkyr first, she explored the area while I patrolled and we chanced across each other. I expected a fight, but for having tensed up initially, she left me alone. She lingered at first, watching me patrol, studying my scars. Most warframes lack them, it's no surprise any more. This Valkyr's almost entirely recovered her armor, to the point it's impossible to tell if she received grafts or the plates returned naturally. Even Rhino healed so thoroughly from being impaled you can barely tell he ever sustained the injury.

She stopped when I asked if she appreciated being gawked at to the same degree she enjoyed gawking at me. It's a rare Valkyr that takes being reminded of her past in stride, from what I have learned. I would attribute it to empathy but if the Tenno had any of that, they would second-guess themselves and stop. I know they would accuse me likewise, but I have a goal. What do they have? The Lotus? She's gone now. She was just as bloodthirsty as they are.

Oberon is, overall, bothersomely agreeable. When I returned to the Orbiter he had already befriended Ma. Frost liked him, too, or maybe Limbo met and befriended him first and Frost followed suit. It could go either way. When Inau returned she was shy around him, but he talked to her about the facility and at least put on an air of genuinely enjoying and supporting her work. He mentioned being so relieved that there was somewhere Excalibur could go to convalesce. Even though I spent most of the time out of their sight, as if I were not there at all, he did not bring me up. Perhaps he's saving his criticisms for later, when he can speak to her in private.

He sets me on edge. He smells like rotting plants. Most Oberons smell like the animals they attract, and like the outdoors. Having been outdoors a lot, he is not right.

Ma and Zacha stuck around for lunch. I did not, I had to go ensure Night hadn't gotten herself lost again. She was back in the cargo hold, fast asleep, and I had to carry her back to us warframes' space. I did see everyone else gathered in the kitchen/dining area.

I made sure to be present for dinner. I was not going to make myself scarce for their sakes. I live here, too, whether they like it or not. I know Terin dislikes Inau. She will not get the advantage through her reinforcements.

I did give Excalibur his space. Limbo had recruited him into stirring what turned out to be a berry-flavored mix of grain and broth. Music blasted from near the stove, I think some of that Grineer punk band Mag likes. Night and Frost's heads bobbed along to it. Limbo danced to it, as much as he could. It has not been a good day for him, he's been in his chair all day. For whatever reason, it's not stopping him from cooking.

Valkyr wasn't there. Oberon was, talking with Terin. Her voice caught up in the music, making it hard to distinguish the two.

She spoke up when she saw me. “Half an hour of peace, _please?”_

Inau opened her mouth and clamped it shut. Frost sighed. Oberon shuffled uncertainly. Limbo gave Terin a look but kept on cooking like nothing happened. Night stared at me, or perhaps she happened to stare my way. Excalibur tensed, taking several deep breaths before glancing my way.

“This is my home,” I said. I stood near the table, close enough that Frost began to bristle and I simply was present. I did not touch them, I made no threats.

Calling this home is more of a claim than I have made before. I live here, yes, but what other choice do I have? Hunhow and Shadow took everything I could have claimed as mine. Rhino took the very last of my possessions and scattered them. Even if I knew where they were, nobody would let me retrieve them. This complex is all I can possibly claim and defend.

Night patted the spot next to her. It got Excalibur's attention, he started to say something, but she held eye contact with me and asked, _Are you going to sit down or not?_

I did sit with her, somewhat closer to Terin than Inau, but not by much. Excalibur looked like he'd been betrayed; he must have been relying on having much more clearance from me. Or that Night would be more cleanly on his side.

The music covered the silence. It was not long; Limbo finished whatever work he had to do and rapped a utensil on the counter, his signal that the operators need to get their food. Both had to let their warframes out first before they could escape from their seating. The built-in seating made it less likely for anything to fly around should something happen to the ship, but with it grounded, it simply makes life difficult, from what I can tell. The addition of extra seats to the open end of the table – two of which Night and I used - makes it even stranger.

Much to my continuing surprise, Excalibur sat next to me. He did not look at me, working his syandana in his fingers. Attempting to wield the galatine single-handed clearly paid off for him; each movement showed the strength he'd built in his remaining arm. Something to watch out for when he deems me a threat. He is a war machine, same as any of us, was Mag really surprised by his being well-built?

Inau also moved closer to Terin, forced inwards another spot when Limbo took what had been Frost's place. Terin had me on one side, Inau on the other, and no idea which one posed the greater threat.

Usually, meals are noisy. Dinner in particular. Inau loves talking with guests and with her warframes. She kept looking over at Excalibur and I. Maybe she wanted to say something, try to alleviate the swell of concern washing across the somatic bond. Maybe she expected a fight. Between us, between her and Terin. I saw the heat boiling in Terin's eyes.

They will do battle some day. It will not end well. Terin is older than Inau, muscled and adapted for combat like any warframe. Inau can almost entirely fit on Rhino's torso when she curls up and abhors violence. Watching all of Inau's warframes go feral... will be a harder task than dispatching them. The mind does not like to think of losing itself. Every feral is a reminder of how I could have lost everything.

This entrusts this journal with entirely too much privacy, but I do not want to watch them lose their personalities.

 _Limbo has you doing math,_ Night stated, leaning past me to look at Excalibur.

He shuffled. Terin almost glared at him. But Night is not yet their enemy. She is on her way to being one for trusting their enemy, but she is not one herself. Excalibur took the side of Night being an ally, nodding at her and Limbo before beginning his mix of single-handed signing and fingerspelling. _Yes. It is a strange break from everything else. Terin and I work together._

 _What am I to do?_ Limbo asked. His signs are grand gestures, especially when he is nervous or the tension is high. Even if the angles get cut short or the movements are not smooth. _Try and separate you two?_

 _I suppose not._ Excalibur glanced at me before turning the slightest bit towards Terin. I did not bother him, I leaned on the table. Like a casual person. Someone who didn't have to watch for a fight every second of their life.

“I'm sure you guys could try some individual learning, right?” Inau raised her glass to Excalibur and Terin in turn. “When you're doing sword stuff, you can learn stuff.”

If she were not surrounded, Terin would have snarled at the girl. The tension in her face was so strong. “We're Tenno. We work together. It's fine.”

 _You don't do math with me,_ Oberon said. But when Limbo started to offer lessons to him, too, he shuffled awkwardly.

I couldn't stay out of it. If there were going to be issues, I could redirect them back to their proper target, keep Inau out of it. I don't want another midnight therapy session because Terin scared her. “What are you protecting each other from?”

Excalibur dug his fingers into his chest. Terin's face reddened. Inau kept her head down, poking at her food.

“What the fuck do you think? What could possibly keep a Tenno on edge?” Terin slapped her utensils down onto the table. “Do you like hearing it? Does it get you off, huh? We're protecting each other from _you_ , fucking... sanctimonious bastard.”

“Your hands are no cleaner than mine.”

Inau groaned. She makes no secret of her distaste for my thoughts, but it did not win Terin over. “Please, not everyone killed the Orokin...”

“Oh, this is what it is?” Terin leaned back, her eyes growing hard. The set to her jaw was only a slight movement, nothing compared to how Oberon reached across the table to touch Excalibur's arm. “The Orokin are _dead._ They needed to die. They ruined everything and now they're dead. Get over yourself.”

“They gave us _purpose._ Being a colonist was a privilege compared to the nothingness.” I pressed my fingers... not to my chest, not quite, but to where my stomach would be were I... still human. I think that is what triggered it. Or it was the first sign. I know Inau stared at me, bewildered. Yet she is the cause of this.

“What a privilege that was, watching my family die and the Void chew me up. Yeah, real wonderful. Oh! And on top of that, the privilege to be stationed at a hospital on Venus, watching everyone get sick and die while the Orokin finally went extinct.” The room smelled of ozone as Terin channeled excess amounts of Void energy. “I'd take nothingness over that any day.”

“No. You would not.”

The fight ended with Terin transferring into Excalibur and storming off, Oberon following at her heels.

I do not know if this comes from Shadow or myself. It is distant, yet persistent. Hours after that I still feel it, lying in my nook while all the rest sleep. Fatigue pulling at puppet limbs, a dense, gnawing nothing at my center. And with it an overwhelming sense of smallness, fragility. Almost nostalgia.

Inau asked before if I felt hunger, if Shadow experienced it if I did not. Neither of us knew she was right.

The worst is that I cannot sate it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this? Stalker perhaps giving up some information on his past? Spicy!
> 
> So, I will admit, we're going to be eating buffer for a while. Graduation, moving to a new state, starting a new job, all big fun life transition stuff that basically hit my will to write in the face with a cast-iron pan. It's been throwing new ideas at me! However, not Warframe ones, I haven't really touched Jovian Concord. Hollow Knight swooped in and became the new obsession du jour. So, on one hand, if you like that, watch out for a new fic from me there once I can put two words together! On the other, WWT is stalling out for the time being. It's doing so in a plot-heavy arc, so I will be able to pick it up more easily when I get back to it.
> 
> I was gonna say I'll get concerned about the buffer when we hit the next major intro, but that's in... seven updates or so. And it's not quite halfway through my word doc for this.


	18. What We've Missed

Journal,

Inau may think me unreasonable, but I understood why her eyes narrowed when I approached while she ate her breakfast. She hunched over her tablet, flicking through a variety of messages. Many pointless, some asking for use of the facility, some complaining about her not being a true Tenno. She pulled up a calendar and glanced through the messages asking for sanctuary. Ordis pieced together potential entry schedules. There is not much demand, at least not much immediate demand, but everything must be timed around supplies.

When I sat she shuffled away, side-eyeing me while she stuffed a piece of egg in her mouth. The small thing in me yearned for it.

“You're not winning yourself any favors,” she said. It broke the small thing's heart.

I did not know how to explain myself to her. I don't think there was any way to. I did not answer for I could not think of a way to do so that wouldn't start a fight. All I did was stare at the eggs on her plate. Not at her. Not at her messages. Only at the eggs.

It took longer than it might for a human with eyes but eventually Inau caught on to where I was looking. Her expression softened, then grew confused. She snipped off a bit off egg with her chopsticks and held it up between us. “You... want some egg?”

Staring at her did not dissuade her from trying to poke the piece of egg against my chin. I pushed it back to her and let my hand linger on her wrist just long enough to pull at the somatic bond between us. I pulled away after that; any more is dangerous.

“You want me to eat this for you?” She said it with surprise but also easy stride.

I nodded.

She shrugged and opened up the bond enough for us to sense each other. Both of our bodies remained our own, but feelings merged in strange ways. Her presence pulled at something deep within; memories, I believe.

She blinked, then continued to eat. “Wow, you feel more starved than when I finally stopped feeling sick with cryosleep. I didn't know warframes could feel that way. But you're not a standard warframe, are you?”

The egg was disgusting but delicious. Overcooked and somewhat rubbery, patched with spices she did not know how to distribute right, but solid and flavorful and _there._ Every mediocre bite was a relief.

“Limbo likes tasting food, y'know. Frost, too, sometimes, but mostly Limbo.” She shrugged, beginning to let the tension down. “But they're curious. Not desperate.”

I did not look at her. Already I'd been forced to admit a weakness. With our mild form of Transference, I felt her concern, too. Even though I couldn't see her I knew she held a hand over my back; she began to seek some unspoken permission to touch me.

I tried to surge _no_ at her but she pressed through it. She followed the whims of some pathetic thought instead, one needy enough to seek positivity from anyone, anything. Even one of the Void demons.

Her hand settled on my shoulder blade and tried to knead it. She made no progress, not against flesh like sword-steel. She tried to send me reassurance she would not take advantage of this, would not sear me with her powers. She's Madurai, not a school known for subtlety, but I wouldn't put it past her. Still, she did not hurt me.

“Are you okay?” she asked. She knew the answer. The words were useless; I think she just enjoys hearing herself talk after spending so long as a voiceless warframe.

She wanted to extend our contact, to embrace me and talk me down like she would one of her warframes, or like they would do for her. For once she heeded my will and kept back from doing so. She kept her hand on my shoulder; to some degree, it was an experiment in how long I'd let her touch me. It gave her the thrill of charming a wild kavat or kubrow.

It was in this state that Oberon found us. He walked up and froze before rapping on the doorframe. Once he had Inau and I's attention he said, _I wanted to apologize for Terin's behavior. I can come back later, though._

“Now's fine,” Inau said. She did not move away by herself but folded her hand back into her lap when I shrugged her off.

He did not look fine. Any Tenno would naturally distrust me at the least, and the nullification sets them even less at ease. On top of that, he is one of Terin's frames. He had no reason to like me nor Inau.

Inau gestured for him to come sit across from us. He did, lacing his fingers together neat and tidy on the table. Until everyone settled some and he began to sign in prim words. _What happened with Excalibur has been rough on Terin. Neither really want to leave the other alone, and she's been confrontational. To say the least. He's her warframe, and she's... stuck. Stuck in her ways. It was painful getting the two of them to accept coming here._

Inau rubbed her nose, face scrunching when she got to where Frost broke it all those months ago. It's still a little crooked. Sometimes I see her looking in the mirror she put in the personal quarters and trying to work it back to the way it was. “I know. It's hard. I really just want them to feel better but I don't know what to do.”

He shrugged and pointed at me. _You got him to change. If anyone was stuck in their ways, it's him. You can handle Terin, I'm sure._

She frowned at me. “You didn't really have a choice.”

I did not.

After Oberon let us be and Inau finished eating she asked me to bring some of our preserved fish and jam to some of the locals. Winter is never easy, and Inau wants to help them as they helped us. The two parties get along well enough.

Address and items in tow, I left.

I tried to leave. Excalibur saw me, said goodbye to Night (who did not seem too bothered, both were chatting with Limbo and she was quite interested in what he had to say), and approached. “I'm sorry-”

“About yesterday. There's work to be done.” I gestured towards the others. “You'll be happier there.”

He scoffed. His hand drifted towards his shoulder, towards the grip of the sword waiting there. “You say.” He paused, rocking his weight side to side. “Where are you going?”

I showed him the foodstuffs. I told him the address. Sufficient information. It distressed him some, I think, knowing I was being trusted with going to civilians alone.

“I should go sometime.”

He was correct. The village is a nice enough place. “You should,” I said, and turned away to leave.

“May I come with you?” The words caught in his throat, I could tell. He nearly choked to death on them. “Since I don't know the way.”

I warned him. “This trip covers a long distance.” He had to know he would be dealing with me for far longer than he likely wanted to. There are reasons I take on this errand alone. “You could not stand me last week.”

“I need to know you're not him.” He began kneading his syandana again, fingers catching against his thumb. He could still summon his exalted blade single-handed if he got enough distance from me. He kept staring at my scars. “I need this.”

Knowing Inau would not tolerate learning I let Excalibur near me unsupervised, I spent most of the trip far from him. Close enough he could follow and not get lost, but distant enough where we would not be staring each other in the face. And, naturally, far enough he wouldn't stare. I know everyone uses all the scars to tell Shadow and I apart, as if I still have the Pakal armor Hunhow gifted us hidden somewhere and could put it on as I wished. I am here. Shadow is not. Why can that not be enough? Why must I become some sort of thing to pick apart and examine?

While we were at the village, we had to stay close. He did not know where to go, and people trying to talk to him seemed to overwhelm him. I translated some, though there is little I know that is not already in a translator program. Almost everyone simply wished to greet us, though one child asked if they could feel his syandana. Which he obliged. A few people looked like they held back questions. I did not ask, we had a task to perform.

We handed off the food and I made ready to leave while they asked us (primarily Excalibur) to stay for a while and warm up. He told them he couldn't, since he needed to accompany me back, but maybe he'd stop by later.

The trip back was uneventful save for


	19. Rescue Attempt

Journal,

I hope I hid this well. It has been four days since I could write. A woman, Asha I believe, arrived here to ask for our assistance. A storm had picked up, leaving her drenched and frigid. She said her son and husband had not been seen all day and she feared for them.

None of the others have the tracking experience I have. If I could pin down a single Tenno in the entire solar system, I could find two humans in one region of one planet. Inau let me take one of the daggers should I encounter wildlife or Grineer.

The storm covered their tracks well, but there were still signs. It is different quarry than a Tenno, but the principle is all the same.

I found them on the second day. They must have gotten turned around in the storm and wandered right onto a glacier. The father had fallen into a crevasse; there were signs of the son trying to build a fire and lower a line to his father. I heard him scream as he, too, fell in.

I retrieved the son first, returning him to the surface of the glacier. At first I thought it was too late for the father but there were some signs of life. I spent almost all my energy returning him to the Orbiter for medical treatment before going back out to get the son. His survival is nothing short of miraculous.

Asha left with both of them earlier today. All of them needed to recuperate, emotionally and physically.

That would be it, but Excalibur approached me earlier. He did so with Valkyr watching in a nearby doorway, whether that was intentional or not. He mostly signed, his voice was rougher than usual.

“You don't like being stared at, do you? I realized what I was doing and I wanted to apologize. I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“Humor solves nothing,” I said.

The words struck him and Valkyr, though the latter less so. “I'm not joking.”

He has to be. The apology was so stiff, so awkward, it couldn't have been genuine. They're just words, anyways. Words are nothing. His actions while he stays here will be his apology, if it was true.

Night tried to read over my shoulder. She is fast, but not faster than me. I eventually got her to promise not to read my journal. She insisted she was not trying to read it, just that she spoke to Excalibur and Valkyr about the matter and she wanted to let me know he was being serious.

I don't rescind my earlier statement. Words are nothing. I will only know if they are honest if Excalibur stops staring and Night doesn't try to read my journal again.


	20. Nekros

Journal,

Rhino returned, and with him brought a Nekros Prime. It seems he encountered one of Inau's next clients on a mission and got a ride home. He said nothing about why he _happened_ to find the client, but they're here now.

According to the intake interview Inau performed, Nekros is here because he no longer wishes to fight. He was willing to go out and rescue hostages like he and Rhino did, but not to battle and kill and reanimate. He got to the point where he tired of the fear, of the death and destruction. Much like Inau, he wishes to retire.

Interestingly, he is one of the earliest Tenno awoken. His Operator has an Excalibur Prime, in terms of how early he woke. He recognized me and, with a sigh, called me a bastard, but nothing more. He recalled being afraid of me, early on.

_Recalled._

He is slow and... puttery, as he described himself. Some past battle(s) took sizable chunks out of his leg, and while he claims to be plenty mobile when the need arises, he is no longer an acrobat of any sort. He clearly favors the limb, it's hard to imagine him sprinting. Ordis is currently fabricating a cane for him, based off of Limbo's. The two are about the same height.

When he joined everyone at dinner he was impeccably cordial. Most of the time he talked with Terin's Excalibur about the Excalibur Prime (wonderful, now they'll require distinction), throwing in tidbits here and there since it's not like Inau's encountered many of those Primes, there's an allure to hearing stories of the old(er) masters' daily lives.

Terin Excalibur

Texcalibur

I do not want to call him Tex. That feels incorrect.

The Prime will have to be ExP.

Nekros will be staying in one of the cabins. He has few belongings, nothing more than a couple syandanas and armor pieces. That is what I saw, anyways. I think I saw him slip in an extra box.

I found the box while he chatted with Night. It is full of jewelry, with long, thin chains and some bangles on top. No signs of hidden compartments or anything that could be used to create a weapon, transmitter, or other security breach. Perhaps his intentions are true.

Speaking of, Excalibur has not looked at me. Not directly. He is dedicated, I will give him that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Agh, sorry I got this one up late at night, folks! I thought it was Thursday for a while and posted part of a short Hollow Knight fic I'd been working on.


	21. Sanctuary

Journal,

There is nothing to fix with Nekros. He is simply here for sanctuary. Both he and Inau agree upon this, and are attempting to determine a setup where he can live on his own while remaining near people to socialize with. His operator's Orbiter is packed, to say the least, as he has one of every known warframe. While most are happy to be in close quarters and they must be for mission availability, since he will not go on missions he does not need to live with them. Until the issue is sorted, he will stay in the cabins and do what physical therapy he can at this point.

Terin suggested he go to Fortuna. He need not be violent, but his consistent presence might help scare away Nef Anyo's repossession squads. Excalibur finds the people agreeable; his assessment is likely more useful for Nekros than Terin's, though she came to the same conclusion.

He said he would consider it, but he wants to ensure it's a good home for him and ExP. He says he wants to live somewhere cozy. A strange goal for any Tenno – Inau included – but he is set on it. He enjoys the cabins.

I found Night at the waterfall early in the morning, before the sun rose. I could not sleep, and she did not sleep. She appeared to be meditating; perhaps that is what she is doing when she stares blankly into the distance.

 _You like it here, too?_ she asked when I sat in front of her. Upon not getting an answer, she continued, _The quiet? The distance? The natural surroundings?_

Yes. Those are all reasons. She could have continued and I do not think she would have gotten any wrong. She understands. She is nothing like me, but she understands. Was it only Night who would be in the right mindset, or would this have persisted across Equinox and Day?

She is not disruptive at the waterfall. Were it not for the _awareness_ of her presence, I could have ignored her entirely. If she continues to appear there, perhaps I will adjust some day. She does not ask questions, she does not attempt to chat. She sits, and she meditates. When I had to lead her back in time for sunrise she permitted it.

She did take my nook again. She's curled up with the blanket Inau brought her to comfort her. I considered dumping her in Frost's nook but he was there for once. When will her operator come to retrieve her so we can all have our space back?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nekros Prime waltzed into the facility and was like "Oh good I have the means to be the grandpa I have always been deep down."


	22. Mother Where Art Thou

Journal,

Inau tried to talk to Terin about the Lotus' disappearance. It did not go well. Notably unproductive. I believe she has better luck debating with me.

Other Tenno have simply said they don't know what happened, but Terin is actively aggressive about the matter. Not that she isn't that way towards anything else Inau tries with her. Something about Terin's demeanor suggests she knows more than she is letting on.

In other news, Inau and I seem to be establishing a new habit of eating breakfast... together, I suppose. She does not try to touch me, and the somatic link only lasts as long as it needs to. Sometimes Limbo or Frost joins us. Rhino did, today. Inau cannot maintain that deep a link with both of us at once, but she is good at rapidly switching between who is her focus. Surprisingly, Rhino does not seem to care about sharing his operator. Because he always has? Mag was Inau's first warframe. If any of them are to be territorial, I'd expect it to be her. Or Frost.

My presence continues to upset Terin. That is her problem. She has not gotten food with us in some time, she's been linked with Excalibur every time I saw them. If she's linked with a warframe, I don't think food is an issue, so I am not bothered. Inau is. It's far more difficult to assist Excalibur with Terin controlling him.

Rhino took an interest in the newcomers he has not seen much of. Night is rarely around him, so it takes him special effort to go find her. Between her nocturnal schedule and tendencey to disappear – to the places I prefer – idle curiosity is not enough. I have seen Rhino sit out with her at night before. They did not communicate. Sometimes they looked at each other, as if to assess, and though that was the extent of it they seemed to form an understanding.

Rhino's presence does lead to Inau being belowdecks more often. She often disappears into the blankets in his nook, sometimes peeking out or getting checked on like a condroc chick. She snuck a tablet in and spent hours as Rhino once, sorting through messages and playing games.

They spent much of yesterday linked, actually. Perhaps to serve as a counter to Excalibur and Terin. Excalibur is still readjusting to his changed mobility and no Excalibur would stand a chance against a Rhino in a pure strength contest. In terms of physicality, Rhino has the upper hand, even if Terin may have that advantage over Inau.

Inau says it is because she misses Rhino and being linked with him is like being back in her actual body, with all the time she's spent as him. Sometimes I regret our link. She sinks into them so instinctually, it is disconcerting when she knows what I think. The worst part is, she does not try. She does not mean to. She is simply so used to being a warframe to some degree or another that it happens. And I am so used to being controlled that I subconsciously permit it.

Breakfasts might be making that worse. If I invite her on a regular basis, I adjust. She must be aware of this. She must also be aware of how I cannot stop now; I don't want that feeling to come back. I hate how small and fragile it makes me feel. How helpless.

No wonder Nekros said he _recalled_ a time he feared me.


	23. Restlessness

Journal,

Inau is restless. Thus, all her warframes are restless. Even I feel an itch curling around my spine, demanding action. Of what sort, I don't know.

Whatever it is, Lotus seems to be on her mind. She keeps trying to interrogate Terin, though she's also asked Night and Nekros if they know anything from their operators. Night gave her a blank look, as if it would be surprising if her operator told her anything. Nekros thought for some time before saying no, he knew nothing.

Limbo posited asking Excalibur. He likely knows what Terin knows, and he is less antagonistic towards us. He has a math lesson today that Limbo wants the two separate for, so it would be a prime time to ask. It's not like they distrust Limbo to the same degree as I or Inau.

He asked the questions under the guise of making conversation, from what I understand. Excalibur was compliant, but unable to provide worthwhile information. Just that Terin felt strongly on the matter, that something had shaken her, but she refused to share anything on it. He even apologized for not being able to tell Limbo more.

Why are they so attached to this Lotus? What has she done besides lie to them? I asked Inau about this previously; she becomes too defensive to get a worthwhile answer out of. She claims the Lotus tried to keep the Tenno safe, that she was the closest thing to a mother she'd had since Margulis died.

I remember little on the Executors. Their existence is a vague concept, a collection of sensations more than anything. Ballas was one. I've heard him mentioned previously, in offshoot conversations. The Tenno have found his announcements involving some of their warframes, back when the Primes were introduced.

Ordis claims to know nothing more about Ballas than I do. He created the warframes. He knew about the Tenno and Margulis. Yet there is some simmering anger, he breaks into that glitched voice much more often when talking about Ballas.

Tomorrow, I will interrogate Terin on my own.


	24. A Vision

Journal,

Inau woke me in the middle of the night. She tugged on my hand, hissing but biting her lip to keep from alerting her warframes when I ripped free of her grip. Then she got right back to it, pulling until I got up and backed her towards the ladder.

This proved to be what she wanted. She gestured for me to follow her and once we were on the main level she pushed me until I stood in the arsenal. Ordis complained the entire time, but steadfast, she armed me. Daggers, a pistol, a bow. Not much like the weapons I am most comfortable with but they remain holstered to me.

Only when she was packing up gear, along with rations for herself, did she explain what was happening. The Lotus gave her a vision, one of a warframe trying to fight Ballas, along with Sentients. That got her. Sentients! Working with an Orokin, and an Executor at that. The person who created the very tools which forced the Sentients to retreat and ended the war.

She says the frame's name is Umbra. She claims he is an Excalibur, she saw him use the frame's slash dash. He is an odd Excalibur, though, like Terin's. Though it is like Terin's Excalibur is a stunted version of Umbra's strange figure. Umbra's metallics are longer, more clearly formed. The strange patterns Excalibur exhibits are reminiscent of Umbra's, with the latter's clearer.

Why did she take me? She did not want to deal with the potential issues of me being left alone without her to enforce the ceasefire. Especially with Terin around. She fears the last bastions keeping us from killing each other would disappear, and she does not know how long we will be gone. Ordis reluctantly agreed with her assessment, and will inform the others of Inau and I's mission. He traced the Sentient signatures Inau suspected to elsewhere on Earth.

Luckily, it is on the same continent. With the archwing launcher, we should be able to reach it in a matter of days.

However, Inau wants to remain in Transference for this. She has to while we use the archwing, but I have not linked with her for any extended length of time. Shadow was the last to do so, and how long will the echoes of his presence persist? She agreed to grant me my freedom whenever we stop to rest. Will it be enough?

She says her personality will not wear into mine. That it has not happened with her other warframes, it will not with me. Just that we may grow to understand each other more.

I can remove her at any time. I can cut Transference, if not the link formed from it. That will have to be reassurance enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Umbra! Strange to think he's been around for over a year now, and I'm just getting to him.


	25. Graveyard

Journal,

We reached the courtyard. And indeed, it is a courtyard. It has a tree in it and graves lining the way to it.

Our approach was full of Ghouls. We bypassed the majority of them. For those we killed, I am sure death is a mercy on their souls. They were no real trouble for us, though.

The courtyard itself held signs of the battle Inau had seen. Remnant debris from the Sentients. Dust that used to be Umbra, blown apart by the figure accompanying Ballas. Only pieces of him remained. Inau freed me to explore, taking the codex scanner so as to get data on the rare chunks we found. A horn and a crescent, exquisitely gold-laced as any Prime's features. Shreds of fabric, billowing in the wind. A sword weighted so as to fit him perfectly, I am sure of it. Its sheathe feels eerily of leather, but not the sort of leather I know, be it of real skin or not.

I struck a Ghoul with that sword, a preemptive strike. I found myself rendered invisible.

More importantly, Ordis found traces of material from Lua on Umbra's remains. He asked Nekros, Night, and Terin if any of them would help us get to Lua. Nekros volunteered one of his operator's landing craft until we found what we needed. He, too, wanted the chance to see what happened to the Lotus. And with Ballas involved, Umbra is Inau's best bet for getting more information.

Currently we wait for the landing craft to pick us up. Nekros says it is a Mantis, painted orange and purple. Inau is holding a scrap of fabric she found, studying it. Other warframes do not have fabric on them, but instead flesh facsimiles of it. Why does this one?

In attempting to start conversation, she said she suspects Umbra is umbral. Yes. Obviously he is, or he has a very non-indicative name. She also voiced a theory that Excalibur types are overall more prone to going umbral than other frames.

She did ask if I felt okay. Which... yes. I don't notice anything different. I barely paid any mind to Transference. Is it truly so natural for me to let someone else override my mind?

What would happen if I removed my Transference bolt? If that is at all possible, of course. Would my already being umbral save me? Would my mind shatter?

I do not have the means for such a surgery. I have no plans to attempt it. I am not that foolish.

Though Ordis says he does not have the sufficient data to extract a blueprint from what he's seen of Umbra, Inau shows endless curiosity on what the warframe is like. She said that, from her vision, he seemed tortured, sad. But she cannot tell why. Only that someone cannot come back.

Speaking of, she says he has a voice. Like how Rhino or Valkyr do, not like I do. I heard echoes of it when we were linked, and she says she still hears it. It hollows, you, his howl, and fills you with his pain. Whatever he has endured, it involved deep suffering.


	26. Eye For An I

Journal,

Inau is currently attempting to argue with Ordis. Rather, what remains of Ordis after the Vitruvian she installed in his systems took down some of his precepts. This new Ordis disturbs me; he calls the Tenno present star-children instead of “operator” or “little demon.” He has never _called_ the operator that, but it is more proper a term, in my opinion.

Rhino wants to accompany her to track Umbra, but Terin, as expected, balks at the idea of me being left alone.

I should explain matters.

We went to Lua. There, we found a mostly-intact Orokin facility. We also found mimics. It must have been a long time since I last heard of mimics, I do not know if I ever saw them in combat or anything like that. Still, their presence set both Inau and I on edge, and more than a few containers and lockers have gashes or arrows in them.

Each fight with them took far longer than if we'd fought any other faction. Not simply because Inau tried to make them back off and leave us alone first, either, but their damage resistance is bothersome, even when she fought alongside me to strip those resistances away. I tried to impress upon her that it did not matter if we killed them, that these were mere drones, likely with little to no conscious thought of their own. It took, after a while, but my pointless wounds still sting. Aid or no, I'd rather not have sustained them in the first place.

In the facility, we found a containment chamber. Umbra must have been locked away in there for the countless years before the Tenno woke. Was he conscious for it? Did he sleep, like the Tenno's warframes did in their pods?

I was still examining the chamber when Inau found the Vitruvian. Ordis demanded she destroy it, but she wanted its secrets more. He is a pushover when it comes to his operator. So, when we returned to him, she installed it. The ship shutting down did not surprise me, but it upset her.

Then we met Vitruvian Ordis. Which only made matters worse. I, personally, found the fact that the Vitruvian belonged to Ballas more concerning than a damaged Cephalon, but Inau cares for Ordis as much as he cares for her.

This new Ordis did manage to synthesize a blueprint for Umbra based on the data from his remains and further information found in the Vitruvian, I believe. Either way, not only was the Umbra blueprint intact, but Ordis built it faster than he'd built anything else, certainly at a fraction of the time it took him to make one of Vauban's components.

The blueprints called for kuva. Excalibur lent her some from Terin's stores. Something about this situation seems to have upset him. Ordis, Ballas' Vitruvian, or Umbra? I cannot tell.

I'd begun my patrol route when Inau went to examine Umbra. I heard the sounds of a fight coming from the Orbiter. I saw a dark form flee, scarf waving as he ran. When I tried to follow him he struck me with sweeps from his exalted blade. I returned to the Orbiter instead.

Inau was on the ground, gasping for air. She babbled about a memory, about the eye she'd seen when Umbra tore part of his face away. It was human. He was human. He remembered, he claimed his humanity. Unlike me.

He did not need a demon to tell him what he used to be.

But he is gone now. He fled, having stunned everyone else who could have responded. And now Inau seeks to track him down.


End file.
